"Frequently" "Asked" Questions
Q: How do you pronounce your name?
A: It's pronounced like "Rastal."
Q: ... No, seriously, how do you pronounce your name?
A: I usually explain that it's like "hostile" / "hostel," but with an "R" sound at the beginning. So you can remember me as "Hostile Rastal."
Q: What's your heritage / background?
A: Mostly Cajun French, with a decent amount of Sicilian and English.
Q: Oh, is Rastal a... Cajun name?
A: Nope.
Q: ...
A: You're wondering where this weird name came from?
Q: I mean, I wasn't going to say "weird," but yes, where did your name come from?
A: It was given to me in a dream ~Jan 2010, and when I woke up it felt more like my real name than the one given to me at birth. I figured that feeling would go away, so I didn't do anything about it and told only a handful of people about it.
Fast forward several years, and the feeling never went away. So I started introducing myself as Rastal, and once more people knew me as that than my birth name, I legally changed it.
Q: Iiiiinteresting. So what's your last name?
A: Wow that's very personal. Lucky for you it doesn't matter since I don't have a last name.
Q: ... What? No, like what does it show on your ID?
A: Seriously, just a single name. Driver's license, passport, social security card, all just show that one name, usually in the last name field, with a blank first name.
Q: So like Cher?
A: Yep, that's what the judge at my name change hearing said too. Also Teller from Penn and Teller, and others I'm forgetting. It's also fairly common in India from what I hear, though I didn't know that before I made the legal name change.
Q: What do you do?
A: Lots of things, can you be more specific?
Q: Like for work.
A: I tend to prefer compound barbell lifts like squats, bench press, deadlift, but honestly I haven't had a regular workout routine in a wh--
Q: No, not working out; what do you do for a living?
A: Oooohhhhh. I'm a software engineer for a Fortune 26 healthcare company. As of this message (early 2026) I'm the most senior engineer on a multi-billion dollar claims automation project.
Q: ... Do I recognize you from somewhere?
A: Were you ever a customer at various Starbucks in the Burbank area? I was once called out by name in a negative Yelp review there.
Q: No, that's not it....
A: Did you or someone you know attend Houma Christian School? I was the speeling bee champion 4 years in a row there.
Q: I've never heard of that school before, so I don't think that's it.
A: Yeah, most people haven't heard of it, that was a total shot in the dark.
Oh! Wait maybe you've seen me play the ~f a b u l o u s~ titular character in Hitler's Ghost?
Q: That's it! Holy crap that was going to bother me haha. That's so cool though, pretty awesome to finally meet you. I love that video :)
A: Happy to hear it! It's genuinely one of my proudest achievements in life, always a pleasure to meet a fan. :)